𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

xxi - freak quick

They latched onto Hinata. They didn't even see him coming. No one saw it coming, so Crow easily slammed the ball on the ten foot line, the force of it causing the ball to almost hit the ceiling. This time, all jaws in the gym opened, not just Nekoma's.

Nekomata growled slightly. Just what were they feeding him for almost a third of his body to be over the net when he jumped? He'd have to ask later what his vertical was, just to be sure. Meanwhile, on Karasuno's side...

"YOU CAN DO QUICK ATTACKS LIKE THAT TOO CROW?!"

"Yeah."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"WELL CONSIDER ME SURPRISED YA BASTARD!"

"Calm down," The ravenette suddenly looked serious for a moment. "We're tied now, but we need to focus to win."

"R-right," Everyone around him realized the situation and broke out of their awe-stricken states. Hinata, however, had a weird, unknown expression on his face as his eyes lingered on Crow for a moment. Then it was Tanaka's turn to serve, and with another freak quick attack, Karasuno made it to being one point away from winning the first set.

However, Nekoma did not give up, and pushed through until they tied it up once again. At that point, Crow was pushed up to the net by Kageyama as the team got ready to receive. This time, as Crow and Hinata jumped for a freak quick, both found hands awaiting them.

To Crow, it didn't matter. He just hit over them, and that was that. Thus, with two more points scored, Karasuno took the first set. "Holy shit," Keishin shook his head with a shit-eating grin. "I never thought I'd see the day where Crow beats Cat."

"We haven't beaten them yet," Crow reminded him as he took a swing of his water bottle.

"We've also been letting each little thing get us down, which isn't doing us any good," Kageyama added. "Let's work on that in the second set, which should make it go smoother."

"Sounds good," Keishin nodded in approval. "But just remember this: there's no spike that can't be stopped. Even Crow's super high hits can be stopped with soft blocks. But that doesn't mean we can get distracted, we still need to go at them full force."

"Keep going for the ball, Hinata," Kageyama muttered the the ginger. "Having both Crow and you on the front line is going to split up the blockers even more, which will give everyone an easier time to score. I'm counting on you."

"Got it," Hinata smirked. "I'm grateful for every set that comes my way, so keep 'em coming."

"As long as you're not getting blocked all over the place, that should be fine."

"Wha--That feels like a backhanded promise!"

"Don't be too hard on him," Crow patted the setter's shoulder. "None of us are perfect, so we'll mess up from time to time. Especially since the dummy hasn't figured out how to keep his eyes open and hit at the same time yet."

"Wow, rip into him why don't you?" Suga sweatdropped. And then, the whistle was blown to signal for everyone to switch sides for the second set. As they were walking, Coach Nekomata stood in front of Crow.

"How high is your vertical?" He got straight to the point, causing the ravenette to raise a curious eyebrow.

"354cm, why?"

"Jesus Christ," The old coach swore, running a hand over his face. That means he's 111cm over the net! "Seriously, what the hell are they feeding you?"

"Tenma feeds me rice and--"

"I didn't mean actually tell me," The coach deadpanned before letting out a sigh. "You're like a cheat code, Crow, I hope you know that."

"Yep," He smiled slightly. "Guess it'll be harder to crush me than you thought, huh?"

"Don't get too cocky, Crow," Nekomata's eyes glinted with mischief. "We won't give in just because you can jump high and hit hard."

"Then I look forward to how you combat those two things," He hummed, moving around the old coach. "Good luck."

"Right back at you."

The second set was rough for Hinata. Inuoka was blocking him left and right, but luckily Crow was able to cover most of them along with Noya if they were near him. Luckily, even after getting blocked on end, the ginger's eyes never lost their sparkle. In fact, he looked excited.

"Oi..."

"It's different somehow," He breathed. "It's not the same as back when I felt confused because I couldn't see the other side past the blockers and didn't know what to do," He looked up. "It's different somehow. I can tell that my opponent is having trouble keeping up with me. Until now, I felt fear and hate when I was blocked. Now," His voice rose. "I get excited when he shows up in from of me. With your sets and some kind of plan," Hinata proposed. "I think I can get past him. So please.. send one more set my way!"

"That goes without saying!"

"Well," Crow hummed as he walked over to the two. "There's always normal quicks, which give you more options."

"Normal...quicks?" Hinata seemed confused at the notion, causing the two to deadpan slightly at him.

"Like what Tsukishima does."

"Trying that out in a game is a little..." Kageyama seemed hesitant, so the person who had suggested it shrugged.

"Whatever, it's just an option," With that said, he returned to his position and awaited the serve. The next time he tried to set Hinata, the ginger's eyes were open as he tried to pick a spot to aim. However, because of that, he missed the ball and fell on his back like a dork.

"Hinata was looking at..." Sugawara's eyes were wide as he processed what had just happened. "...the set. Until now, he left the ball fully up to Kageyama and just took the swing!"

"TIME OUT!" Keishin called while scrambling like a drunken fool. Crow sighed, running a hand through his hair as the two teams exited the court to speak with their coaches and take a bit of a break to regroup.